HOW DO I DO THIS?

[corvettev12ttnos]

My Nitrates are at 30 and my posphates are at 1.0 so how do i bring thies down? Will they go away with water changes? And is this dangerous to my 2 yellow tial damsels and my cleaner? and my water levels are PH 8.3 Nitrites 0 Ammonia 0 nitrates 30 phosphates 1.0 SG 1.023 and my Calcium is at 380 and i have no idea about Iodine or the other stuff by KENT marien in the green bottel it's something & something (i'm not at my house right now so i can't look off the bottel)and I've been looking for test kits on thies but i've found none...are there any???
BTW i think my tank is cycled because it's been 4 weeks since i started it and my ammonia spiked at only 1 week into it then fell after 4 days but i also only had about 60% new saltwater in it(and the LFS siad it was too so..) and i have brown algea on my sand bed and on my LR so is it cycled???????

 

[lnarobbins]

IMO, your tank is not cycled. how big is the tank
maybe try another water change to bring the nitrates down. I don't know if this will make the cycling process longer but it might save your fish
Alan

 

[fshhub]

IMO, you should never do any water changes, until after the cycle has completed, the trates will come down, if your bio filter is adequate and you have a dsb and or a skimmer,
the phosphates and or nitrates may fall, with water changes, IF your source water is lower then that in your tank, but if the source water is high as well, then doing changes w3ith that water is senseless, another problem with phosphates could come from the food you are using, and also a phosphate sponge could help

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

I'm useing Brine shrimp for food and how mutch do the posphate pads cost? and you can read my set up in my sig
thanx fshhub

 

[heavenly damsel]

Don't panic. You should not do a water change if you are still cycling, first off. Nitrates don't kill fish and they will come down on their own when the cycle finishes, so you are okay there. The problem with phosphates is that they fertilize algae blooms, they don't kill fish either. So you are okay for the time being. Test the water you are using for top off and plan to use for the water changes when you start doing them, see what the phosphate levels are in that water. This may be the source of your high phosphates. HTH

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

I haven't done any water changes at all and i use the distiled water in the gallons that are $.50 a gallon for top offs and i plan on use that for water changes as well and i'll test the water tomorrow to see what it's at and i'll get back with you on it
THANX

 

[schreff]

IMO i'd get a R.O unit w/ high silicate. Go get seachems PhosGuard. One cup will treat 75 gallons. I bought 2.6lbs for around $15.00. That will treat 600 gallons. This stuff controls Phosphates and silicates.Dont do any more water changes for about 3 to 4 weeks, but keep an eye on things. I would'nt put a bunch of chem's in you tank ethier, your salt does most of this for you. If your calcium is low I would get something to bring this up to around 450. Thats about all I can tell you. Hope this helps.

 

[schreff]

BTW Brine shrimp isnt that great for your fish, this could be a prob. w/ your nitrates. Find a good flake food.

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

When did brine shrimp ever get bad for fish to eat????????? <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" /> <img src="graemlins//confused2.gif" border="0" alt="[confused2]" />

 

[fshhub]

it isnt neccesssarily bad, but more not as nutricious as we generally think, and any over feeding could contribute to high nitrates, not just one type of food